Title: The Screaming Staircase
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Series: Lockwood & Co. #1
Pages: 440
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Fantasy
Intended Audience: Middle Grade
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Trigger Warnings: Ghosts, frightening situations, mild violence
Setting: London, sometime between the invention of phones and the invention of TV
Recommended for: Fantasy and ghost story readers looking for a book with almost no romance
Why I picked it up: The author, I absolutely love his Bartimaeus books. 
What it's all about: The country has been plagued for the last 50 years with an unexplainable epidemic of ghosts, ranging from shades to violent full-bodied apparitions. Since The Problem began, several Agencies have formed, full of child Agents with adult leaders. (Only children can fully sense ghosts, a talent which disappears as one gets older.) Lucy Carlyle has left the agency in her hometown after a near-death experience that killed her fellow operatives. Once in London, she is rejected by every agency except one. Lockwood & Co. is the smallest agency in London, consisting of only Lockwood (gifted with Sight), George (gifted with Research), and now Lucy (gifted with Hearing). Using their combined talents, they find and dispatch ghosts for a dwindling number of clients. After causing a housefire, their appointments completely dry up. And then a strange man asks for their help. He comes with even stranger conditions that guarantee the three won't be able to do their best work. In return, he offers enough money to pay their bills off and a bonus if they survive the night (ominous!). 
tl/dr: Children ghost-hunters find themselves in a dangerous situation in a very haunted house. 
My thoughts: This book was So. Much. Fun. I love how Jonathan writes, with plenty of sarcasm and snarkiness. While the characters in the book solve plenty of ghostly mysteries, it leaves the mystery of Lockwood himself unsolved. Reading the interpersonal interactions between the three Agents, what they do and don't tell each other, how they learn to work together was enjoyable. Reading their interactions with other Agents, Agencies, and DERPAK (the government agency dedicated to quelling the Problem) were perfectly cringe-worthy. I really loved how the book sets up with smaller cases and builds to the big case at the end and how an earlier case tied into the final battle. I was completely pulled into the story from the first page to the last. 
Favorite Character: The skull! 
Favorite Moment: When Lucy saves the day with a stolen necklace. 
Memorable Quotes: 
"Plenty of time for a cup of tea. Then we find ourselves a ghost."
"'No. I'm being ironic. Or is it sarcastic? I can never remember.' 'Irony's cleverer, so you're probably being sarcastic.'"
"His verdict was Death by Misadventure, which is usual in such circumstance."
"handsome as a freshly opened tub of margarine, as charismatic as a wet tea towel lying scrumpled on the floor."
[After a character makes a grand exit] "'Wouldn't it be good if he'd forgotten his stick,' George said, 'and he had to scurry back in again to pick it up? That would absolutely ruin the effect, wouldn't it?'"

The Screaming Staircase is the first in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. This is a clever, creepy, fun story with plenty of action, interesting characters and a nice touch of humour. Although set in an alternate present-day England with TVs and cars, it felt more like Victorian England with its child labourers and a dark Gothic feel. The story starts a half century after the event that precipitated the hauntings and, although we never learn what that event was, Lucy tells much of the history of the rise of the agencies, the types of weapons needed to end the ghosts (called Visitors), and a few of the more shocking and deadly cases. Although aimed at a middle grade audience, it is the kind of well-written story that would appeal to any age group and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought this was a great book! The characters were very likeable!

This book is geared toward middle grade children but it is very enjoyable for adults as well! This was the first in the series. A fun and spooky read!

Looking forward to reading more of this series!

Thank you to NetGalley, Disney Book Group and Little, Brown Books for Children for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I enjoyed this different spin on a ghost story. Being told in first person seemed to make me more of a part of the hunt for the source of the problem. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who figured out the ending before end.

Jonathan Stroud does it again with fantastic characters and fascinating story. He brings to life the unknown in a way that makes it impossible to put down the novel.

Forgot to review this book years ago, but it is so wonderful! I have since purchased it for my middle school collection, and it circulates consistently. Stroud simply writes books that kids want to read!

Fantastic characters, a thrilling storyline, humor and, of course, magic, all combine in this delightful novel!
Stroud's approach with Lucy, Anthony, and George as independents, yet still very much children, is a unique angle on the supernatural.
A compelling and enchanting blend of thrills, chills, and excitement. Can't wait for the rest of the series!